Our Team

We have a committed team with depth and breadth of knowledge and experience.

Peter Webster has led the EIRIS Foundation since it was founded in 1983. He has focussed on the challenges of providing ESG ratings and research to a wide range of owners and managers, helping investors to make good use of that research and advancing the concept of responsible investment. Peter is a regular speaker on topics ranging from fiduciary duty to individual ESG areas and their global evolution as well as how responsible investment can contribute to a more sustainable and robust financial system. He was treasurer of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association for 20 years until the end of 2011 and from October 2013 to October 2019 was a member of the PRI Board.
Peter Webster

CEO, EIRIS Foundation/EIRIS CRN

Sam Chua joined EIRIS Conflict Risk Network from ISS ESG where she worked for more than five years as a member of the Norm-Based Research team. She specialized in writing reports on allegations against companies which breached international human rights and labor rights standards. Sam has experience in qualitative research and report writing, research methodology enhancement, and company engagement. She holds an MA in Mass Communications, an MS in Management, and a degree in the Humanities.
Samantha Chua

Conflict Risk Network Research Analyst & Advocate

Maria joined EIRIS working as a Marketing and Promotion Assistant for the Conflict Risk Network (CRN) in Boston. She is responsible for advocating the next steps for sustainable finance by raising awareness about business in conflict-affected areas to support peace. She has previously worked in Convert 360, a business-to-business marketing agency in her home country – Brazil –, as a marketing assistant and social media manager. Maria was also the vice-president of communications in the Student Government Association (SGA) of her school, where she aided with the organization of events, as well as guiding the monthly production of the SGA’s newsletter.
Maria Freitas

CRN Marketing and Promotion Assistant

EIRIS Foundation Support

Elissandra joined the EIRIS Foundation from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). She has wide-ranging experience on monitoring and evaluation of development projects, advocacy and stakeholder management. She has worked with a number of European investors with interests in the renewable energy sector as well as a political risk and financial analyst in both the UK and Brazil covering corruption, clean tech and human rights in emerging markets. She has worked on policy analysis and project management for a number of international organisations, including the UN. Elissandra holds an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy, and a degree in Business Administration. She is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Elissandra provides ongoing research support and analysis for EIRIS CRN.
Elissandra da Costa

Senior CHRB Manager & Campaigns Organizer, EIRIS Foundation

Lisa's career to date has been focussed specifically on sustainable investment and finance. Lisa is currently the Head of Communications and Charity Impact at the EIRIS Foundation. Lisa was previously a Programme Director at the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), supporting the growth of UK market demand for responsible investment and other financial services that advance sustainability through activities such as Good Money Week, the Ethical Investment Association and support for Pension Funds and Charity Investors. Lisa initially developed an interest in sustainable finance while studying Finance and Environmental Economics in South Africa. Lisa is a proud Trustee of The Orchard Project, a charity dedicated to the creation, restoration and celebration of community orchards.
Lisa Stonestreet

Head of Communications & Charity Impact, EIRIS Foundation

Rita is the Next Steps Project Manager at the EIRIS Foundation, helping us identify and lead new projects that pioneer the next steps in sustainable finance. She has been working as a project leader and guest lecturer specialising in cross-disciplinary endeavours in international contexts. Rita successfully led the Denmark-based pan-European Otherness Project, engaging with eleven partner organisations and universities, charities, and local governments. During the past eight years she focussed on analysis and modelling of the most intriguing societal and environmental questions. She has participated in knowledge exchange about migration, urban upcycling, communities built on equity, and action research in cross-disciplinary projects via events, workshops, conferences and publications in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, the US, Germany, Greece, Italy and Switzerland.
Rita Sebestyen

Next Steps Project Manager

Jana holds an undergraduate degree in legal studies and a LLM in international human rights law from the University of Essex. She has worked as a legal researcher in asylum law, international family law, and employment law in Germany. As part of research teams at the University of Essex she has worked on issues of business and human rights and corporate accountability, as well as rights holder participation and rights abuses. Since December 2021 she is part of the EIRIS Foundation working on the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark and other projects with a focus on Business and Human Rights.
Jana Hoess

CHRB Project Officer

Felicitas oversees the research for the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark and leads the Social Lobby Map initiative. Prior to joining EIRIS Foundation, she built up the KnowTheChain benchmarks at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, focused on assessing corporate efforts to address forced labour risks across supply chains. Her work included building up a coalition of over 90 global investors to take up the data, engaging with benchmarked companies and their trade associations on how to move the industry forward, and connecting with civil society to reflect their needs in the methodology. Prior to joining the Resource Centre, Felicitas has worked at Principles for Responsible Investment, initially leading its investor collaboration platform, and subsequently its investor engagements on social issues. Felicitas holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, Philosophy and Economics from Universität Leipzig.
Felicitas Weber

Senior Manager, Human Rights & Business

Jas came to the EIRIS Foundation from ClientEarth, an environmental law charity. It was here that he developed his interest in sustainable finance, seeing the necessity of strategic investment to reach net-zero and achieve other important social goals. Prior to joining the Foundation, Jas had held numerous fundraising roles at a variety of charities, including WaterAid, the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) and the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (RHN). He holds an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from the University of York.
Jas Singh

Charity & Retail Coordinator

Nicola is the Research and Project Officer at the EIRIS Foundation, working on projects that pioneer the next steps in sustainable finance. She has been working in the not-for-profit sector for 12 years’ in the UK, working at some of the leading national and international charities. Nicola has an academic background in cultural studies, with a masters’ in Political Communications, from Goldsmiths, University of London. She undertook her masters’ thesis on Corporate Social Responsibility, speaking to senior CSR practitioners from many of the major UK blue-chip organisations.
Nicola Sakkas

Research and Project Support Officer

Egle holds a bachelor's degree in law from PUC Sao Paulo, a specialization in Public Management with a focus on policies (FESP-SP) and an LLM in International Human Rights and Economic Law from the University of Essex. Egle has practiced law in Brazil, worked as a human rights intern advisor to the Brazilian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, and, more recently, managed political literacy programmes in an NGO in Sao Paulo. She recently joined the EIRIS Foundation, working on the Social LobbyMap project that aims to encourage corporate political engagement that supports human rights.
Egle Spina

Corporate Social Lobbying Project Manager

Our Advisory Board

Bennett Freeman

Bennett Freeman has spent the last two decades working with governments, international institutions, multinational corporations, responsible investors, and NGOs to promote human rights and sustainable development around the world.  Currently Principal, Bennett Freeman Associates LLC, he was Senior President for Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments from 2006-15.  Previously he served as a Clinton presidential appointee in three positions at the U.S. Department of State.  As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from April 1999-January 2001, Freeman directed the State Department’s bilateral human rights diplomacy and led the development of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.  In addition to his service as an Advisory Board member of EIRIS CRN, he is Chair of EG Justice; Vice Chair of the Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN); a member of the Advisory Council of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights; and a member of the Global Witness Advisory Council, the Copper Mark Advisory Council, and the Economic and Business Relations Group of Amnesty International USA.  He formerly served as Chair of the Global Witness Advisory Board; Vice Chair/Board Secretary (and co-founder) of the Global Network Initiative (GNI); Vice Chair of United to End Genocide; on the Governing Board of the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI); the board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Institute (EITI), and the board of Oxfam America.  He was a founding trustee of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), and a co-founder of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB).

Adam Sterling

Adam Sterling is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business at Berkeley Law and co-founder of Startup@BerkeleyLaw. Previously he was a startup and venture capital attorney at Gunderson Dettmer and the co-founder and director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force and EIRIS Conflict Risk Network. Adam’s writings and work have appeared extensively in the press; including contributions to The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and National Public Radio. He has appeared on a number of broadcast news programs, including CNN’s Situation Room and CNBC’s Street Signs.

Mike McCauley

Mike is responsible for investment program client service and corporate governance activities at the Florida State Board of Administration. He coordinates investment program client service, including relationship management, communication with government and non-governmental clients and constituent groups, client advocacy, account and portfolio reporting, and oversight of externally managed portfolios.

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